What comes through the Rift?
by espenson
Summary: Ianto and Tosh are jealous and rebellious, the Tardis needs refuelling and so 10 pays a visit. Martha is also visiting just to add to the drama. Throw in John Hart and a long lost love and what have we got? Lots of hurt, love and a happy ending?
1. Chapter 1

Toshiko ran a finger speculatively over the keys of her computer. All things considered it was a relatively dull day at The Hub. And, because nothing had happened Jack handed her a piece of tech she hasn't seen in her life and was told to analyze it. Something that usually intrigued her today made her feel underappreciated especially as the Captain had practically wrestled Gwen into the firing range to 'practice her aim,' instead of giving her some work. Still Ianto was keeping her company and her quiet welsh friend meticulously recorded her notes as she read off her findings aloud. They weren't that conclusive, the only thing the `tech´ seemed to do was vibrate and hum. Ianto raised an eyebrow when she accidentally set it off.

"So what is it do you think?" Toshiko asked hesitantly feeling embarrassed at having to ask the question.

"Well judging by its..um properties I would conclude...its a relaxation device." Ianto flushed. Owen appeared from behind his screen and looked over his shoulder,

"Teaboy, why don't you say its a vibrator and be done with it? You and Tosh are the most likely to use them anyway." Ianto cringed, his knuckles clenched on the arms of his chair, his eyes flicked to Tosh's hurt ones.

Owen walked away, cursing himself inwardly. "_Why the fuck do I always try to hurt her?_"

Ianto squeezed Toshiko's hand on the table, "he's an arse," he muttered in sympathetic tones, though he himself wasn't too pleased.

"Anyway" his soft voice took on a sarcastic tone, "if we really need to see what it does we could leave it on the Captain's desk and ask him what he thinks of it."

Tosh managed a weak giggle, "I would have it thoroughly sterilized before I touched it again then." She saved and shut down the document she was working on she stretched cracking her back and neck. Ianto saw the rings under her eyes; _I probably look the same_ he thought ruefully. He stood up proffering his hand. Toshiko looked at it bewildered, he smiled slightly, "Fancy bunking off and going for an early lunch for the first and probably last time in our lives?"

Tosh grinned, "Let's go." They had just reached the door after carefully approaching it and sneaking past Owen to leave when a voice called out.

"Ianto, coffee now, Tosh where are you going? Have you finished analysing that tech? If not do so quickly, if yes where's the report?" Captain Jack Harkness stared at them expectantly surprised they weren't at their desks and further surprised when they hadn't done what he'd told them to do straight away. They both started back towards their respective task centres before hesitating and exchanging glances. Jack frowned,

"Coffee Ianto, not so much sugar this time and..."

"..Exactly two spoons of cream." Ianto finished his tone bitter, unlike Jack's coffee, "I know sir, your 11:15 coffee is always the same." He walked swiftly to the coffee machine while Toshiko muttered something about the tech result not being clear and she was `on it right away.´ Jack turned and slammed the door to his office. Ianto performed a speedy about turn scribbled a note on the coffee machine. Grabbing his and Tosh's coat and bag he ran out dragging her behind him.

Walking briskly away Ianto flicked a v-sign to the Cardiff fountain and stopped briefly by a coffee shop Ianto handed the woman at the counter something after exchanging a few words and a sweet smile. A few minutes' walk from there took them to a small buffet shop, selling salads, herbal tea and soup.

"Ianto, as much as I love this kind of place, are you sure you want to eat here?" Toshiko asked worriedly as he found a table in the back corner.

"Tosh," Ianto said as he handed her a cup of mint tea and a bowl of lemongrass and radish salad. "There are two reasons I love this place, one," he took an appreciative sip of his orange peel and coriander soup, "they have great and bizarre food, hmm sounds a bit like work doesn't it? And two," he gestured at the food they had before them. "The bizarre food is exactly the kind our dear boss hates and so he has no idea where to find us."

Meanwhile, a caffeine deprived Jack stumbled from his office over to the coffee machine to find the note. –_Make your own damn coffee for a change. Out to Lunch with Tosh don't bother looking for us._—

The crumpled paper was thrown at Owen's inquisitive head with a pissed off growl.

"I only asked what's wrong" he muttered, "now how the fuck does this thing work?" He said staring at the coffee machine he had been shanghaied into working.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack had ventured out alone to track down his two AWOL companions. He had checked the Hub cameras and decided they weren't still in there. Grinning at his own brilliance he activated the tracking device on his watch. Two blips appeared side by side, he checked the location in a map on his own watch, some kind of restaurant cafe. He smirked heading there immediately.

*

"I mean it's not like I ever do anything to purposely piss him off so why?" Toshiko asked exasperatedly spooning pistachio yoghurt into her mouth at a voracious rate. Ianto nodded sympathetically,

"In all fairness to Owen, as little as he deserves, he did get some bad news today," he said soothingly, "our dear Ms. Martha is coming to work with us again."

Toshiko rolled her eyes, "poor Owen, poor you," she said sympathetically,

Ianto shrugged,

She continued, "I think you and I are the only ones not affected by her _holier than thou _sympathy routine." He chuckled at her words noting she was gearing up to do a `Tosh rant´. They didn't happen very often as, like Ianto she was a very peaceable mellow person usually storing resentment and bitterness and channelling it into her work.

"I just, can't stand it though! Jack and Owen are just the same!" Her eyes were shiny, hinting at oncoming tears. Ianto gripped her hand as she continued. "They are completely and utterly ruled by their emotions and hormones. `_Gwen and I are just going to the firing range to train on marksmanship_´ bollocks! I could see his erection from the ground floor! If something has legs..._Hmm I wonder what it'd be like in bed_..."

"Or on a desk," Ianto muttered,

"Or up against a wall" she spat, "It wouldn't be so bad if our other charming workmate, _Gwen _hadn't fucked both of them, repeatedly at that while engaged to Rhys!"

"She's a whore." Ianto added lightly, but meaning it. "But we knew that..."

"What does she actually do anyway? Other than sleep with whomever we're chasing or get given projects that she can't handle and we have to go help her! Owen's a medic and therefore necessary to the team, Jack organises everything, has a vast knowledge of alien life and tech and is the best gunman.

I analyse every _fucking_ thing that comes through the damn Rift, have to do the profiles on everything we find organise and make sure everyone understands what the hell is going on and what we're chasing. Jack gets pissed when you or I don't know something but whenever the other two don't, they get a nice explanation forgetting naturally that we aren't from the 51st century as he is!"

Ianto nodded gritting his tooth as he mulled over what she was saying, finding it to be true. Then he pointedly asked, "What do I do that is so integral to the team?"

She paused and looked at him through teary eyes, "you Ianto could be what holds us all together and keeps us sane, the gestures you make, ensuring everyone has the best of what they could have. On the professional side, you can read hundreds of alien languages, your memory for detail is amazing and your orderly meticulousness is piecing together the chaos we call our workplace."

Ianto smiled, "Those who work the hardest are usually the most unappreciated." He quoted softly, "they say to know your love is unrequited is to be perfectly happy, as you're in love and know you'll never get anything other than that."

"Wouldn't it be great" Toshiko declared waking from her rant induced slump, "if we had fallen in love with each other not Jack and Owen?" Ianto smiled sadly again,

"It would, it's not fair, and such is life." He stood glancing at the clock on the wall, "we've been gone over 2 and a half hours, we are going to be hung drawn and quartered."

Tosh finished her tea and left the shop, Ianto followed suit after paying.

"I've just had a thought," Tosh mused as they walked slowly back the hub, "how didn't they find us? Tracers in our watches and our headsets?" Ianto grinned sheepishly.

"I took care of that."

*

After being thrown out of the coffee shop for causing a disturbance Jack glared at the gleaming coffee bar into which he had gone following the signal from their watches. The counter clerk had been primarily smitten and had confirmed that a young good-looking man and young pretty Asian woman had gone in the shop earlier that day. After showing him the watches and watching his temper tantrum she had ordered him out the shop and banned him from going there again.

Jack was still spitting half an hour later as returned to the Hub, he had frequently tried to contact them via headset but all he was getting was classical music. He had heard the overture to _Tristan and Isolde_ 16 times in the last 20 minutes. Admitting defeat was not something he was accustomed too and so riled him even further. He retreated to his office drinking Expresso bar coffee, overpriced and nowhere near as good as Ianto's. Owen made his own coffee and promptly vanished when Jack demanded a cup of his own.

Gwen emerged from the shooting range having finally calmed her hair down and redone her make-up. She planted a kiss on his head and his hand automatically went to caress her backside. "Why so sad Jack?" she whispered, he pulled her down to him to kiss her. She wriggled free sighing, "Not again Jack, I'm literally shagged out for at least an hour." He pouted and frowned.

"Tea-boy and Tosh not back yet?" Owen called from the ground floor; Gwen stepped briskly away from her lover and sent him a confused look. Jack's face darkened dramatically.

"No" he said tersely before diving into his long neglected paperwork.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked suspiciously catching sight of her reflection in the shiny glass window she preened admiring her mirrored image.

"Tosh and Ianto pulled a runner," Owen sang, pleased it was annoying his boss so much, he switched to his doctors voice, "and Jack's in caffeine-withdrawal-relapse-state, CWRS, it's a common condition among Torchwood workers to suffer from this disorder when in the absence of that surprisingly vital mineral T-boy."

A familiar giggle announced Martha Jones' arrival to the Hub. After hugging all three of them she in-avertedly jumped on the question that was under discussion.

"Really? Ianto's gone? Damn I could do with a coffee right now."

"Couldn't we all?" Jack drawled just as the pneumatic elevator doors slid open to reveal the missing members.

"How nice of you to return so soon." Jack's voice reverberated icily round the suddenly deathly silence Hub. "11:17 you two walked out of here, I know I checked the camera relay, and it is now," he made a show of carelessly checking his watch. "2:04, care to tell us why the fuck you thought it was ok to clear off?"

"No we don't," Ianto replied shortly, he and Tosh both tried to walk to their respective places but Martha blocked the way.

"You mean you two were gone for nearly three hours together?" Her eyes wide as if detecting a possible scandal.

"Yes," Toshiko muttered trying to get past the excited Martha without actually touching her.

"Alone, whatever could have taken you three hours?" She smirked enjoying the other woman' s obvious discomfort.

"Yes, yes! The point is quite clear Martha; we're not quite as stupid as you seem to make out!" Owen snapped, he glanced briefly at Ianto and Tosh before returning to his medical bay, Martha following close on his heels. Ianto smiled inwardly.

He was painfully aware of the glaring eyes at his back, Gwen looked from the fuming Captain to the stubborn butler and sighed.

The awkward silence was shattered by an ear-splitting siren.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" Jack bellowed as Tosh scrambled to shut the siren off and find out what was causing it.

"TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF AND FIND OUT WHAT THE HELL IT'S DOING!" he shouted again clenching his ears like the rest of them were.

"MAYBE TOSH'S COMPUTER IS BROKEN?" Martha shouted helpfully to her angry boss.

"MY COMPUTER'S DON'T BREAK!" Toshiko spat, Jack opened his mouth to say something along the lines of –stop chatting and sort this mess out- Toshiko wheeled around,

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE OPEN YOUR MOUTH HARKNESS!" she growled, flicking a switch the Siren vanished, her eyes flicked back to the screen, "clear a space there" she pointed to where Owen's desk was, Ianto and Gwen hastened to do so.

"May I as..." Jack started sarcastically,

"No, you may not ask why," Tosh interrupted, "I will tell you why. Something's going to land there in less than a minute." Her apologetic eyes flicked to Ianto's, _I'm sorry_ she mouthed,

"What exactly?" Owen asked grumpily standing back with the rest of the team.

"The Time And Relative Dimension In Space vehicle will be there." She glared at Jack, "The _Doctor_ is paying a visit."


End file.
